Most small business owners have had "one of those days." The internet drops, email stops working, or the main computer refuses to start. Eventually things come back, everyone gets back to work, and the day moves on.

But what did that hour actually cost? The answer is usually more than it seems, and only you can answer it for your business. Here are a few questions worth asking yourself.

Most businesses have a plan for what happens if something goes wrong with their technology. Fewer have ever tested that plan. A tabletop exercise is one of the simplest ways to find out whether yours actually works, before you need it.

EDR stands for Endpoint Detection and Response. Instead of just checking files against a known-bad list, it watches behavior on your laptops, desktops, and servers in real time. If a program suddenly starts encrypting files or trying to disable security tools, EDR can flag it — and often shut it down — even if that specific threat has never been seen before.

ITDR stands for Identity Threat Detection and Response, and it applies that same approach to logins and accounts. Many attackers skip malware entirely — they just steal a password and log in like a normal employee, with nothing for antivirus to catch.

If you've heard the term "DLP" from your IT provider and nodded along without really knowing what it meant, you're not alone. DLP stands for Data Loss Prevention, and it's one of those behind-the-scenes tools that quietly protects your business from some very expensive mistakes.